Toyota Electric Sports Car Officially Previewed, Is It The MR2 Revival?

How could this day get any better after seeing Lexus’ electric LFA successor? Well, parent company Toyota is working on a sports car of its own that will do away with the combustion engine. It’s generically called the Sports EV for the time being, but there’s nothing generic about the sharp design of this orange concept. It was previewed among a plethora of zero-emissions models coming from the two Japanese brands.

While Lexus did share some tidbits about its zero-emissions hypercar, Toyota isn’t being that generous. However, rumors of an MR2 revival have been swirling around the Internet for several years and this Sports EV does seem to have the proportions of a compact performance vehicle. The “mid-ship run-about 2-seater” for the EV era proudly carries the Gazoo Racing badge on the front bumper’s carbon fiber inserts.

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A pint-sized sports car from Toyota isn’t a new idea seeing as how the S-FR concept was introduced back in October 2015 at the Tokyo Motor Show. A production version never happened, and this Sports EV looks fairly larger while adopting a removable targa top. It’s also far more angular and aggressive than the cutesy S-FR, suggesting it’s on a whole different level of performance.

Logic tells us the production version will have a rear-wheel-drive layout as we’re expecting Toyota to steer clear of an AWD setup since it would make the vehicle heavier and also more expensive. The Sports EV doesn’t seem to be as intense as Lexus’ Electrified Sport, meaning it will presumably sit lower in the hierarchy.

Lest we forget Toyota is also working on an entirely different electrified animal. We are talking about the GR Super Sport, a full-fat hypercar with over 1,000 hp from a hybrid V6 that will stem from its Le Mans program. It still hasn’t made up its mind whether the road-legal version will be sold, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed it’s going to happen considering the namesake concept from early 2018 was hugely promising.